UConn says employee breached privacy at health center

FARMINGTON >> An employee of the UConn Health Center inappropriately accessed personal information in the medical records of 164 patients, the university said Wednesday.

Health Center spokeswoman Carolyn Pennington said the school became aware of the privacy breach Nov. 4 and has sent letters to all the affected patients. The incident was included in a report Wednesday to the school’s board of trustees.

“We have no evidence to suggest any personalized information has been misused or misappropriated,” Pennington said in a statement.

The health center is investigating the circumstances surrounding the breach, and the employee involved has been placed on administrative leave, Pennington said. There is no criminal investigation.

The health center has agreed to make a third-party credit monitoring service and identity theft insurance available to the patients at the university’s expense, she said.

This is the second such breach at the facility in the last year. In January, the health center reported that a now-former employee had accessed about 1,400 patient records that were beyond the scope of that person’s responsibilities.